The Necessity of Chinese Exclusion Act

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The Necessity of Chinese Exclusion Act Yu Li Mr. Diamond AP US History May.24.2012 U.S government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which was the first law to ban immigration based on a certain race. The anti-Chinese sentiment was spread out in California in late 1870s as job competition became more severe, people constantly give government pressure by forming anti-Chinese organizations and violence riot. The purpose of passing the Chinese Exclusion Act is to solve the problems on job competition and give more job opportunities to other group of labors. However, people have been constantly debating about the necessity of Chinese Exclusion Act for decades. For discussing this topic, it is necessary to consider the economic and industrial effect that Chinese Immigrants had brought to the country around the time, weather the law actually solve the problems on job competition, the long-term effect this law had brought to the future Chinese Immigrants and the basic American value on human rights. After deeply analyzing those factors, it will show weather the Chinese Exclusion Act is a necessary law to protect the American workers or is it just another racial prejudice in American History. There was a lot of background and causes behind the pass of Chinese Exclusion Act, so it is necessary to understand those features first before discussing whether the U.S government should pass the Chinese Exclusion Act. Chinese Immigrants were the first Asian people to immigrate to United States in a large amount of numbers. The first wave of Chinese Immigration was spurred by the Gold Rush of 1849 in California. Similar to other foreign gold-seeker, those Chinese immigrants came across the Pacific Ocean looking for Gold. Also, in 1850s, there was a civil war called TaiPing Rebellion going on in China that was tearing the country apart. Many people survived from

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